Lighting control systems are important facilities for modern theaters. Lighting control systems are used to create or enhance the atmosphere performance by varying the luminosity of color lights. However, as the earlier lighting control systems are usually manual, it requires the light operator to perform the real-time control as the show proceeds. It is more difficult, and prone to mistakes that may ruin the show. In addition, as the specifications of many lighting systems are different, it increases the difficulty of the lighting control.
DMX-512 was defined in 1986. Since its emergence, DMX-512 becomes one of the most commonly adopted interfaces in the industry. DMX-512 provides the light operators with the convenience that was unprecedented in earlier lighting control systems. In general, a DMX-512 lighting control system, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a DMX controller 101, a cable 102, and a plurality of light bulbs 111. the cable 102 is used to connect the DMX controller 101 and a plurality of light bulbs 111. The cable 102 can also transmit the control signals issued by the DMX controller 101 to the light bulbs 111. Upon receiving the control signals, the light bulbs 111 will turn on, turn off, or adjust their color or luminosity according to the control signals. In this type of lighting system, each light bulb 111 is given a fixed address (indicated as 1, 2, 3, . . . , N in FIG. 1). The DMX controller 101 uses the fixed address to identify and address a specific light bulb 111. When using the DMX-512 lighting control system, the light operator needs to program the DMX controller 101 in advance. The programming comprises sequencing and setting the color, luminosity, and the timing of each light bulb 111, so that the entire lighting sequence is stored in the memory inside the DMX controller 101. During the show, the DMX controller 101 can repeatedly carry out the pre-programmed lighting sequence.
However, this type of lighting control system suffers from the lack of flexibility because each light bulb 111 must be individually set with a unique address for its identification. Dynamic setting of a lighting sequence during the show is often difficult. Its application is further restricted because DMX-512 system does not provide an interface for video or computer animation inputs.
FIG. 2 shows a second type of lighting control system, a full-color dot-matrix display system. The full-color dot-matrix display systems are widely used because they can be used to display texts, images, animation and video signals. As shown in FIG. 2, a full-color dot-matrix display system usually comprises a video decoder 211, a computer display interface 212, a full-color dot-matrix display controller 220, and a full-color dot-matrix display 221. The video decoder 211 receives the video input 201, and transforms the video input 201 into an input format that is accepted by the full-color dot-matrix display controller 220 to be displayed on the full-color dot-matrix display 221. Similarly, the computer display interface 212 receives the computer VGA signal 202, and transforms the VGA signal 202 into an input format that is accepted by the full-color dot-matrix display controller 220 to be displayed on the full-color dot-matrix display 221. The full-color dot-matrix display 221 comprises a plurality of dots 222 arranged in a regular matrix for easy control. Each dot 222 can display full-color. In other words, a full-color dot-matrix display system can transform the video input or VGA input, and show it on a full-color dot-matrix display. Therefore, a full-color dot-matrix system is suitable for displaying TV or computer images on a large screen in an exhibition or performance. However, as the full-color dot-matrix display controller 220 uses scanning lines for outputting control signals, the system is only applicable to a display system with lighting dots that are arranged in a regular format, such as a matrix.
Due to the disadvantages of the previous two types of lighting control systems, it is important to design a lighting control system that provides functions of both types of lighting control systems so that the aforementioned restriction in usage can be overcome.